Jose Mourinho has questioned Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag over the Dutchman's management of Jadon Sancho
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes current boss Erik ten Hag has to take responsibility for Jadon Sancho's struggles at Old Trafford.
Sancho left United to rejoin former club Borussia Dortmund on loan in January after two-and-a-half difficult seasons with the Red Devils and the former England attacker was in the XI which started the Champions League final against Real Madrid at Wembley on Saturday night.
Speaking to TNT ahead of that match, Mourinho said: "As a player, we know his talent. We saw what he could do, there are no doubts about it. What happened at Man United... if I look at my own history, sometimes I failed with players. Sometimes I couldn't create the right empathy, I couldn't understand the player's DNA and I couldn't help players grow up in the right direction. The majority of times, yes, I did it but on some occasions, I couldn't.
Jose Mourinho pictured during a pre-season game between Manchester United and Real Madrid in August 2018. (Image credit: Getty Images)
"I think sometimes we have to learn with experiences, which I tried always to do, to try to understand the nature of the player. Sometimes they have the talent but don't have the mindset you want from a player. For sure, the kid [Sancho] made mistakes, that's for sure, but for sure his manager was not able to get the best out of him."
Mourinho went on to explain that there are many factors involved in a player's performances as he added: "Normally, it's multi-factorial. Normally, it's not the manager, the player, the family, the agent, the club."
"But looking at myself as a coach, I did many times get the best out of young players and helped them to be what they were in the future. Other times I failed.
"For sure, even if it's multi-factorial, we are part of it. For us coaches with more experience and many situations of déjà vu as we get older, we try to help the players in the right direction.
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"I think in this case, they look at it and for sure they try to analyse what happened at Man United and what happened and what he found in Dortmund."
Ben Hayward is the Weekend Editor of FourFourTwo. A European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.
